Slideshow: EVs, hybrids at 2012 Paris Motor Show

PARIS-- In a climate of economic austerity in which European car sales have declined over the past few years, the renewable and other emerging technologies on display during the recent 2012 Paris Motor Show offered a glimmer of hope.

The two week event that ended here on Oct. 14 featured the latest in electric vehicle and hybrid technology. Auto makers like BMW who have been slow to enter the hybrid and EV markets showed off concept vehicles while others demonstrated the latest technologies for squeezing more miles and kilometers out of each gallon or liter of gas.

The BMW i8 Concept can
run on electric power alone. The energy supplied by the
application-designed battery (installed between the front and rear
axles) to the electric motor at the front axle gives the BMW i8
Concept an all-electric driving range of about 20 miles. The battery
can be fully recharged in two hours in a standard power socket.

It's still funny to see how they lie on charge time but still provide the numbers to find out the real figures.
Example with the Opel Ampera on slide 18 which "16-kWh, lithium-ion battery" can be "recharged in less than four hours at 230v".
Problem: max plug rating is 16A@230V, how can you provide 16kWh in less than 4 hours ? (let's be cool and assume 100% charger and battery efficiency, Opel engineers are able to do that for sure)

BMW i8 concept range of 20 miles? Am assuming and hoping that is a typo involving the misplacement of the decimal point by one place to the left. Incidentally, proud to be driving a year 1991 BMW 3 Series (E36 I think?) that is built like a tank, drives like a BMW should, features superb comfort and ergonomics, and for a car 21 years old, does excellent mileage too at about 37-40MPG. "They don't build em like that any more."
I look forward to an electric vehicle that will last that long without needing new electric motors every so often. Which begs the question, how reliable will electric vehicle components be? Will they be intentionally engineered to fail every X miles/years? I have already noticed a reduction in the quality of LED bulbs as they catch on with consumers. No doubt the LED bulb industry, like the automotive, doesn't want us owning things that never wear out...!

Electric car seems to be the future. There are no doubt a couple of challenges which include distance per full charge and charge time. The C-Zero has an impressive 80% of battery charge in 30 minutes. Yet, if I am going to a road trip, I will prefer charge time that is roughly 10 to 15 minutes max. A full charge shall give me 300 to 350 miles. What is your preference of distance per full charge and charge time?